United States · United States Congress · 5 November 2015
Jobs in America Act This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish an employment-based, conditional immigrant visa (StartUp visa) for a sponsored alien entrepreneur: (1) with required amounts of financial backing from a qualifying investor or venture capitalist; and (2) whose commercial activities will generate required levels of employment, revenue, or capital investment. The Department of Homeland Security shall terminate the status of a sponsored entrepreneur (and the alien spouse and children of such entrepreneur) if not later than three years after the date on which such permanent resident status was conferred: (1) the sponsoring venture capitalist or investor fails to meet investment requirements; or (2) the entrepreneur fails to meet job creation, capital investment, or revenue requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 5 November 2015
Protecting Local Communities from Executive Overreach Act This bill declares that the President may not designate lands to be a new or expanded national monument unless within one year before a designation the Department of the Interior consults with each community, county, municipality, city, town, or township with boundaries within or adjacent to the land affected by the designation and obtains concurrence for the designation from: the governing body of each such community, county, municipality, city, town, or township; and the wildlife management and land management authorities and the governor of each state in which the new or expanded national monument would be located. Furthermore, a declaration of a national monument shall not: include private property without the informed written consent of the property owner; be construed to increase the amount of funding for the monument for any fiscal year; apply to more than 5,000 acres; or be used to create or expand a national monument located in specified counties in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Utah. Water rights associated with a national monument created or expanded by a declaration: may not be reserved expressly or by implication by such a declaration, and may be acquired for a national monument created or expanded by a declaration only according to the laws of the state in which the water rights are based.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 2015
Stopping EPA Overreach Act of 2015 This bill amends the Clean Air Act to exclude carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride pollution from the scope of that Act. The bill declares that current law does not authorize or require the regulation of climate change or global warming and nullifies certain proposed rules relating to greenhouse gas and carbon pollution emissions. Before proposing or finalizing regulations or policies, the Environmental Protection Agency must analyze the net and gross impact of those regulations and policies on employment. Regulations and policies may not take effect if they have a negative impact on employment, unless they are approved by Congress and signed by the President.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2015
Atomic Veterans Healthcare Parity Act This bill includes veterans who participated in the cleanup of Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands during the period January 1, 1977-December 31, 1980, as radiation exposed veterans for purposes of the Department of Veterans Affairs presumption of service-connection for specified cancers.
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 2015
Impeaches John Andrew Koskinen, Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, for high crimes and misdemeanors and sets forth the articles of impeachment.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 2015
Hearing Protection Act of 2015 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) eliminate the $200 transfer tax on firearm silencers, and (2) treat any person who acquires or possesses a firearm silencer as meeting any registration or licensing requirements of the National Firearms Act with respect to such silencer. Any person who pays a tax on a silencer after October 22, 2015 may receive a refund of such tax. The bill amends the federal criminal code to preempt state or local laws that tax or regulate firearm silencers.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 2015
This bill directs the Federal Reserve Board to revise the Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement on the Assessment of Financial and Managerial Factors to raise its consolidated asset threshold from $1 billion to $5 billion. The bill exempts from the leverage and risk-based capital requirements of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act any bank holding company or savings and loan holding company that is subject to the application of such Statement.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 2015
Putting Patients and Providers Ahead of Compressed Regulatory Timelines Act of 2015 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to eliminate provider penalties for failure to comply with electronic health records (EHR) use requirements. Under current law, certain hospitals, Medicare Advantage organizations, and professionals participating in Medicare are subject to negative payment adjustments if they fail to comply with established requirements for EHR use. The bill eliminates these penalties and requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to reimburse such providers for payments that they would have received within a specified timeframe had such penalties not been applied.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 2015
Expresses support for the recent terrorism victims and their families in Israel, the people of Israel, and the government of Israel. Condemns terrorism committed under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority (PA), and calls on Palestinian leaders to cease supporting or allowing terrorist activities in Israel. Urges the President to condemn the attacks carried out against innocent Israelis and freeze U.S. funding to the PA until their leaders openly increase efforts to end their incitement of violence. Expresses concern about the use of national security waivers to continue supplying aid to the PA. Demands as a condition of continued U.S. aid that the President re-certify that the PA government and all its ministers have publicly accepted and are complying with the principles which demand the recognition of Israel's right to exist and the acceptance of previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 2015
Access to Marketplace Insurance Act This bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to require health insurers to accept, on behalf of individuals enrolled in qualified health plans, payments made by certain third parties, including state and federal government programs, Indian tribes, tribal organizations, urban Indian organizations, and certain tax exempt organizations. (Qualified health plans are eligible for subsidies and fulfill an individual's requirement to maintain minimum essential coverage.)
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2015
Sentencing Reform Act of 2015 This bill permits a court to reduce the mandatory minimum prison term imposed on certain non-violent defendants convicted of a high-level first-time or low-level repeat drug offense (including unlawful import, export, manufacture, or distribution of, or possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance). The legislation expands safety valve eligibility to permit a court to impose a sentence below the mandatory minimum for certain non-violent, cooperative drug defendants with a limited criminal history. It reduces the enhanced mandatory minimum prison term for certain defendants who commit a high-level repeat drug offense, use a firearm in a crime of violence or drug offense after a prior conviction for such offense, or unlawfully possess a firearm after three or more prior convictions. It permits retroactive application of such reductions for defendants without a prior serious violent felony conviction, after a court considers certain factors. It also establishes a consecutive mandatory prison term for a defendant who commits a drug offense involving a detectable amount of heroin or fentanyl. The bill makes the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 retroactive to permit resentencing of a convicted crack cocaine offender sentenced before August 3, 2010.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2015
Calls on North Atlantic Treaty Organization member countries to meet or exceed: (1) the 2% gross domestic product commitment to defense spending, and (2) the 20% commitment to defense expenditures on major equipment spending.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 2015
Reach Every Mother and Child Act of 2015 This bill directs the President to: establish a five-year strategy to achieve, with target countries and donors, the goal of ending preventable maternal, newborn, and child deaths globally and ensure healthy and productive lives within a generation; and provide assistance to implement the strategy. The President shall designate a current U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) employee serving in the Senior Executive Service or at the level of a Deputy Assistant Administrator or higher to serve concurrently as the Maternal and Child Survival Coordinator, who shall be responsible for: overseeing such strategy, and all U.S. government funds appropriated or used for international maternal and child health and nutrition programs. The U.S. government, through USAID and other relevant executive branch agencies, should identify and remove financial barriers to strengthen access to delivery systems for vulnerable and marginalized populations by leveraging public and private capital to expand delivery of interventions for maternal, newborn, and child health.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 2015
Supports the designation of Special Operations Forces Appreciation Month to honor members of U.S. Special Operations Forces for their service and sacrifice on behalf of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 2015
Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to require any health care practitioner who is present when a child is born alive following an abortion or attempted abortion to: (1) exercise the same degree of care as reasonably provided to any other child born alive at the same gestational age, and (2) ensure that such child is immediately admitted to a hospital. The term "born alive" means the complete expulsion or extraction from his or her mother, at any stage of development, who after such expulsion or extraction breathes or has a beating heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles, regardless of whether the umbilical cord has been cut. Also, a health care practitioner or other employee who has knowledge of a failure to comply with these requirements must immediately report such failure to an appropriate law enforcement agency. An individual who violates the provisions of this Act is subject to a criminal fine, up to five years in prison, or both. An individual who commits an overt act that kills a child born alive is subject to criminal prosecution for murder. The legislation bars the criminal prosecution of a mother of a child born alive for conspiracy to violate the provisions of this Act, for being an accessory after the fact, or for concealment of felony. A woman who undergoes an abortion or attempted abortion may file a civil action for damages against an individual who violates this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 2015
Declares that: the atrocities committed against Christians and other ethnic and religious minorities targeted specifically for religious reasons are crimes against humanity and genocide; each of the Contracting Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and other international agreements forbidding war crimes and crimes against humanity, particularly the governments of countries and their nationals who are in any way supporting these crimes, are reminded of their legal obligations under the Convention and these international agreements; the United Nations (U.N.) and the Secretary-General are called upon to assert leadership by calling the atrocities war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide; the member states of the U.N., with an appeal to the Arab States that wish to uphold religious freedom and justice, should collaborate on measures to prevent further war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, and collaborate on the establishment of tribunals to punish those responsible for the ongoing crimes; the governments of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Lebanese Republic, and other countries are commended for having undertaken to shelter and protect those fleeing extremist violence; and those who force the migration of religious communities from their ancestral homelands, including specifically the Nineveh Plain and Mount Sinjar, should be prosecuted in accordance with the laws of the place where their crimes were committed and under applicable international criminal statutes and conventions.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 2015
Protecting Local Business Opportunity Act T his bill amends the National Labor Relations Act to allow two or more employers to be considered joint employers for purposes of the Act only if each shares and exercises control over essential terms and conditions of employment and such control over these matters is actual, direct, and immediate.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2015
Second Chance Reauthorization Act of 2015 This bill amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to: revise and reauthorize grant programs for offender reentry demonstration projects; family-based substance abuse treatment; and evaluating and improving educational methods at prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities; and repeal grant programs for offender reentry courts and drug treatment alternatives to incarceration. Additionally, the legislation amends the Second Chance Act of 2007 to: rename, revise, and reauthorize grant programs for technology career training demonstration projects and reentry mentoring services, reauthorize offender reentry research and the grant program for offender reentry substance abuse and criminal justice collaboration, reauthorize and modify eligibility for an elderly offender early release pilot program, and repeal grant programs for the responsible reintegration of offenders and the study of Depot Naltrexone to treat heroin addiction. It amends the federal criminal code to establish partnerships between prisons and faith- or community-based nonprofit organizations to conduct activities to reduce recidivism. The Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Inspector General must conduct annual audits of selected grant recipients to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of funds. The bill prohibits grants to nonprofit organizations that hold money in an offshore account to avoid tax liability. It also prohibits a grantee from using grant funds to lobby DOJ or a state, local, or tribal government regarding the award of grant funding. DOJ, in collaboration with interested persons, providers, and organizations, and state, local, and tribal governments, must coordinate and report to Congress on federal reentry programs, policies, and practices. The bill limits the use of grants for conferences that use more than $20,000 in DOJ funds.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2015
Flexibility to Innovate for College Affordability Act This bill directs the Department of Education (ED) to establish the Higher Education Regulatory Reform Task Force to review, report on, and make recommendations to reduce, federal regulatory requirements for institutions of higher education (IHEs). ED must publish the Higher Education Regulatory Reform Report; the President must submit a legislative proposal to implement its recommendations; and Congress must consider legislation to enact such recommendations under expedited procedures. Additionally, this bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to expand ED's waiver authority under the Experimental Sites Initiative. Specifically, it authorizes ED to waive title IV statutory and regulatory requirements to allow participating IHEs to award federal student aid: (1) above the annual maximum amount to students whose academic workload exceeds a full-time academic workload; and (2) to students enrolled in remedial or competency-based programs, students or potential students who incur costs (e.g., test fees) for prior learning assessments, and high school students enrolled in a postsecondary education program. A participating IHE must demonstrate that a waiver reduces the total cost of attendance for such students.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2015
Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success or the A PLUS Act This bill allows each state to receive federal elementary and secondary education funds on a consolidated basis and manage the funds to advance the educational policy of the state. States must submit to the Department of Education a declaration of intent no less than every five years. Each declaration must be formulated by a combination of specified state officials or by referendum and must list the programs for which consolidated funding is requested. States may use such funds for any educational purpose permitted by state law, but must make certain assurances that they will use fiscal control and fund accounting procedures, abide by federal civil rights laws, advance educational opportunities for the disadvantaged, and use federal funds to supplement rather than supplant state funding. Each declaration state shall: (1) inform the public about its student achievement assessment system; (2) report annually on student progress toward the state's proficiency standards by specified student groups; and (3) provide for the equitable participation of private school children and teachers in the same manner as provided for under current law.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2015
Further Flexibility in HIT Reporting and Advancing Interoperability Act or the Flex-IT 2 Act This bill amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to modify Medicare and Medicaid program requirements related to electronic health record (EHR) meaningful use programs, which establish incentives to promote EHR meaningful use and the adoption of health information technology (HIT). Specifically, the bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid to establish and apply a linear scale to determine meaningful or "partial meaningful" EHR use. In accordance with this linear scale, eligible professionals and hospitals that are partial meaningful EHR users shall: (1) receive certain incentive payments currently available only to meaningful EHR users, and (2) be partially exempt from certain negative payment adjustments. In addition, the bill: (1) establishes three-month reporting periods for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive payment programs; (2) modifies provisions regarding quality reporting on meaningful EHR use; (3) expands the hardship exception to Medicare EHR payment adjustments; and (4) limits, with respect to timing and frequency, the adoption of more stringent measures of EHR meaningful use under Medicaid and Medicare. The bill also amends the Public Health Service Act to: (1) require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to pause rulemaking related to EHR meaningful use, unless and until specified conditions are met; and (2) prohibit HHS from proposing the adoption of certain untested standards regarding HIT.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2015
Employee Rights Act Amends the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to make it an unlawful labor practice for a labor organization or its agents to interfere with the rights of employees to organize and select representation to collectively bargain. Adds a requirement that representatives be selected by secret ballot in an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) by a majority of the employees in a unit. Defines "majority" for purposes of determining the majority of employees in an election to mean the majority of all employees in the unit, and not the majority of employees voting in the election. Requires the NLRB, in cases where an existing certified or voluntarily recognized bargaining unit experiences turnover, expansion, or alteration by merger of more than 50% of the unit's employees, to conduct a secret paper ballot among the unit employees: (1) between the 120th day and 110th day before the collective bargaining agreement's expiration or before the end of three years, if there is an agreement between the labor organization and the employer; or (2) within 30 days, if there is no agreement between such parties. Requires the NLRB to decide, before the election of a labor organization as the exclusive collective bargaining representative of all employees of an appropriate unit, whether such unit shall be the employer unit, craft unit, plant unit, or subdivision unit. Requires the NLRB to give 14 days advance notice before a hearing when it is investigating an election petition if it has reasonable cause to believe that a question of representation affecting commerce exists. Revises the requirement that the NLRB direct an election by secret ballot, and certify its results, whenever it finds upon the record of such a hearing that a question of representation exists. Adds a requirement that the NLRB also review all post-hearing appeals before finding that such a question exists. Requires an employer to provide the NLRB a list consisting only of employee names and home addresses of all eligible voters within 7 days after an NLRB determination of the appropriate unit or following any agreement between the employer and the labor organization regarding eligible voters. Prohibits an election after the filing of a petition unless and until: (1) a hearing is conducted before a qualified hearing officer on any and all material, factual issues regarding jurisdiction, statutory coverage, appropriate unit, unit inclusion or exclusion, or eligibility of individuals; and (2) the issues are resolved by a regional Director, subject to appeal and review, or by the NLRB. Declares that election results shall not be final nor any labor organization be certified as a bargaining representative unless the NLRB has ruled on: (1) each pre-election issue not resolved before the election; and (2) the NLRB conducts a hearing and resolves each issue pertaining to the conduct or results of the election. Makes any labor organization found to have interfered with, restrained, or coerced employees in the exercise of their rights to form or join a labor organization or to refrain from forming or joining (including the filing of a decertification petition) liable for lost wages and unlawfully collected union dues and fees, if any, and an additional amount as liquated damages. Amends the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (Landrum-Griffin Act) to permit an election by secret ballot to be conducted through votes cast by electronic ballot cast in the privacy of a voting booth. Requires every employee in a bargaining unit represented by a labor organization, regardless of membership status, to have the same right as members to vote by secret ballot to ratify a collective bargaining agreement with, or to engage in, a strike or refusal to work of any kind against their employer. Prohibits the use of an employee's union dues for any purpose not directly related to the labor organization's collective bargaining, unless that employee authorizes such expenditure in writing. Prohibits a strike without the consent of a majority of all unit employees affected, determined by a secret ballot vote conducted by a neutral, private organization chosen by agreement between the employer and the labor organization. Requires each labor organization to make the independently verified annual audit report of its financial condition and operations available to all of its members and represented nonmembers. Makes it unlawful for a person to use force or violence, or threaten the use of force or violence, to restrain, coerce, or intimidate a person, or attempt to, in order to obtain from any person any right to represent employees, compensation, or other term or condition of employment. Subjects persons who willfully violate such prohibitions to both civil and criminal penalties.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2015
Fairness to Pet Owners Act of 2015 Directs the Federal Trade Commission to require prescribers of animal drugs to verify prescriptions and provide copies of prescriptions to pet owners, pet owner designees, and pharmacies, without the prescriber demanding payment or establishing other conditions. Applies these requirements to medication for a domesticated household animal that consumers are not allowed to purchase without a prescription. Treats a violation of this Act as an unfair or deceptive act or practice under the Federal Trade Commission Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 2015
Kerrie Orozco Act This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to declare that the following persons may be naturalized upon compliance with all naturalization requirements, except that no prior residence or specified physical presence within the United States shall be required: a person who is the surviving spouse, child, or parent of a U.S. citizen who died as a result of injury or disease incurred in or aggravated by employment as a first responder; and in the case of such a surviving spouse, the person was living in marital union with the citizen spouse at the time of the citizen spouse's death. The Department of Homeland Security shall provide for the granting of posthumous citizenship at the time of death to a person who, while an alien or a noncitizen national of the United States, died as a result of injury or disease incurred or aggravated while serving as a first responder.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 2015
Fair Chance for Youth Act of 2015 This bill amends the federal criminal code to establish a process to expunge and seal certain youth criminal records. A youth is an individual who was arrested, prosecuted, or sentenced for a criminal offense committed at age 21 or younger. A youth may petition to expunge records related to: (1) a misdemeanor conviction, (2) a nonviolent felony drug conviction, (3) a conviction for any nonviolent offense committed prior to attaining age 18, or (4) an arrest or prosecution for a nonviolent offense that is disposed of. A youth may petition to seal records related to: (1) a nonviolent conviction, (2) a conviction for any offense committed prior to attaining age 18, and (3) an arrest or prosecution for a nonviolent offense that is disposed of. Each federal district court must establish a Youth Offense Expungement and Sealing Review Board to review, evaluate on the merits, and make recommendations to grant or deny expungement and sealing petitions. The Court must consider and decide each petition for which it receives a Review Board recommendation. The Department of Justice must report on the number of: (1) expungement and sealing petitions granted and denied, and (2) times a U.S. attorney supported or opposed an expungement or sealing petition. This bill's provisions apply to youth regardless of whether such youth became involved in the federal criminal justice system before, on, or after enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 2015
Tax Administration Integrity Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from hiring any contractors or designating other non-IRS employees to receive summoned books, papers, records, or other data and to take summoned testimony under oath.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 2015
Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015 This bill prohibits, for a one-year period, the availability of federal funds for any purpose to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc., or any of its affiliates or clinics, unless they certify that the affiliates and clinics will not perform, and will not provide any funds to any other entity that performs, an abortion during such period. The restriction will not apply in cases of rape or incest or where a physical condition endangers a woman's life unless an abortion is performed. The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture must seek repayment of federal assistance received by Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc., or any affiliate or clinic, if it violates the terms of the certification required by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2015
Enhancing Safety at Military Installations Act This bill directs the Department of Defense (DOD) to issue a new directive authorizing trained military personnel to carry military-issued firearms on military bases and Armed Forces recruitment facilities. Army Regulation 190-14, entitled "Carrying of Firearms and Use of Force for Law Enforcement and Security Duties," and DOD Directive Number 5210.56, entitled "Use of Deadly Force and the Carrying of Firearms by DOD Personnel Engaged in Law Enforcement and Security Duties" are repealed. Any provision in any other law, rule, regulation, or executive order that prohibits trained military personnel from carrying officially issued firearms on military bases and Armed Forces recruitment facilities shall have no force or effect. Trained military personnel shall not be prohibited from carrying officially issued firearms on military bases or Armed Forces recruitment facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2015
Expresses disapproval of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreed to by the P5+1 and Iran on July 14, 2015. Reaffirms the commitment of the House of Representatives to: (1) prevent Iran from ever acquiring a nuclear weapons capability, and (2) encourage global stability and security by strongly supporting strategic regional allies.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2015
Community Financial Institution Exemption Act Amends the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to exempt community financial institutions from all rules and regulations issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Defines a "community financial institution" as an insured depository institution or credit union with less than $10 billion in consolidated assets. Authorizes the Bureau to: (1) revoke such an exemption with respect to a specific rule or regulation issued or modified after enactment of this Act and with respect to a specific class of community financial institutions if the Bureau finds that such class of institutions has engaged in a pattern or practice of activities that have been detrimental to the interests of consumers and that are of a type that the specific rule or regulation is intended to address, and (2) modify a rule or regulation issued before enactment of this Act with respect to such institutions if the effect of such modification is to expand a current exemption or to reduce the costs and the regulatory burden associated with complying with such rule or regulation.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 2015
Merchant Marine of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill requires the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the award, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold medal to the U.S. Merchant Marine of World War II, in recognition of their dedicated and vital service during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 2015
Right to Try Act of 2015 Bars the federal government from prohibiting or restricting the production, manufacture, distribution, prescribing, dispensing, possession, or use of an experimental drug, biological product, or device that is: (1) intended to treat a patient who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness; and (2) authorized by, and in accordance with, state law. Defines an "experimental drug, biological product, or device" as one that: (1) has successfully completed a phase 1 clinical investigation; (2) remains under investigation in a clinical trial approved by the Food and Drug Administration; and (3) is not approved, licensed, or cleared for commercial distribution under the Federal Food, Drug, or Cosmetic Act or the Public Health Service Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015
Taking Account of Institutions with Low Operation Risk Act of 2015 or the TAILOR Act of 2015 This bill directs the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (federal financial institutions regulatory agencies) to: take into consideration the risk profile and business models of institutions subject to regulatory action; determine the necessity, appropriateness, and impact of applying that action to such institutions; and tailor regulatory action so as to limit the burden of regulatory compliance as befits the risk profile and business model involved. The federal financial institutions regulatory agencies shall also consider: the impact that such regulatory action has upon the ability of the institution to flexibly serve evolving and diverse customer needs, the potential unintended impact of examination manuals or other regulatory directives that work in conflict with the tailoring of such regulatory action, and the underlying policy objectives of the regulatory action and statutory scheme involved. In addition, a federal financial institutions regulatory agency must disclose in every notice of a proposed and final rulemaking for a regulatory action how it has applied this Act. The Financial Institutions Examination Council shall report to Congress on the extent to which regulatory actions tailored pursuant to this Act result in differential regulation of similarly-situated institutions of diverse charter types with respect to comparable regulations. The agencies must also apply the requirements of this Act to all regulations adopted five years before the introduction of this Act and ending on the date of its enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015
Small Business Healthcare Relief Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to allow an employer with fewer than 50 employees that does not offer group health insurance coverage to establish a health reimbursement arrangement. Under the arrangement, funds contributed by an employer are excluded from the employer's taxable income and are used to pay or reimburse employees for medical care expenses, including premiums for individual health insurance coverage or Medicare supplemental insurance. Such a reimbursement arrangement: (1) must not pay premiums for an employee covered by a family member's coverage, (2) must be offered to all eligible employees on the same terms and may only vary based on the number of individuals covered, and (3) is not required to provide continuation coverage. Employer contributions to a reimbursement arrangement are not included in an employee's gross income if the employee was covered by the reimbursement arrangement for more than nine months of the year. Employees covered for less than nine months have a percentage of employer contributions included in their gross income, with exceptions. An employee offered affordable individual health insurance coverage under a reimbursement arrangement is not eligible for a premium assistance tax credit. Employers must report contributions to a reimbursement arrangement on their employees' W-2. This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to exempt reimbursement arrangements from requirements for health insurance coverage. Insurance offered under a reimbursement arrangement remains subject to the requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015
Sensenbrenner-Scott Over-Criminalization Task Force Safe, Accountable, Fair, Effective Justice Reinvestment Act of 2015 or the Sensenbrenner-Scott SAFE Justice Reinvestment Act of 2015 This bill requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to: (1) compile and publish federal law violations with criminal penalties, (2) reduce over-federalization of criminal conduct and over-incarceration due to pretrial detention, (3) create a online complaint process to challenge prosecutions and (4) create training and best practices for prosecutors and law enforcement officers that reduce the inaccuracy and unreliability of evidence in criminal cases. It prohibits sentencing courts from considering defendant's acquitted conduct and grants discretion to disregard manipulated conduct involving the Controlled Substances Act. It reauthorizes the Innocence Protection Act of 2001 for FY2016-FY2021. The bill expands pre-judgment probation, safety valve, and compassionate release eligibility. It creates problem-solving courts, establishes a presumption of probation for certain non-violent first-time offenders, and limits prior drug offenses that trigger enhanced mandatory minimum prison terms. It limits application of drug offense mandatory minimums to drug trafficking organization leaders, organizers, or employees. (Drug offenses include unlawful import, export, manufacture, or distribution of, or possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.) It also reduces from life to 35 years the maximum mandatory minimum for certain drug offenses. The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 applies retroactively to permit resentencing of a convicted crack cocaine offender sentenced before August 3, 2010. DOJ must develop a post-sentencing risk and needs assessment system. The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) must provide residential substance abuse treatment to all eligible offenders. The bill establishes a standardized graduated sanctioning system for supervised release or probation violations. It eliminates mandatory revocation for certain minor violations and creates a performance-incentive funding program for judicial districts. BOP may grant 54 days of good time credit regardless of satisfactory GED progress. Probation officers may award positive reinforcement (e.g. discharge credits) for compliance with terms of supervision. The bill adds one non-voting, public defender member to the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2015
Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax treatment of publicly traded partnerships as corporations, to expand the definition of "qualifying income" for such partnerships to include income and gains from renewable and alternative fuels (in addition to fossil fuels), including energy derived from thermal resources, waste, renewable fuels and chemicals, energy efficient buildings, gasification, and carbon capture in secure geological storage.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2015
Grassroots Rural and Small Community Water Systems Assistance Act This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to reauthorize through FY2020 the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) program providing technical assistance to small public water systems in complying with national primary drinking water regulations. The EPA may use the funds to provide grants or cooperative agreements to nonprofit organizations that provide onsite technical assistance; circuit-rider technical assistance programs; multistate, regional technical assistance programs; onsite and regional training; assistance with implementing source water protection plans; and assistance with implementation monitoring plans, rules, regulations, and water security enhancements. In order to ensure that technical assistance funding is used in a manner that is most beneficial to the small and rural communities, the EPA must give preference to nonprofit organizations that are the most qualified and experienced and that the small community water systems find to be the most beneficial and effective.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 2015
First Amendment Defense Act Prohibits the federal government from taking discriminatory action against a person on the basis that such person believes or acts in accordance with a religious belief or moral conviction that: (1) marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, or (2) sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage. Defines "discriminatory action" as any federal government action to discriminate against a person with such beliefs or convictions, including a federal government action to: alter the federal tax treatment of, cause any tax, penalty, or payment to be assessed against, or deny, delay, or revoke certain tax exemptions of any such person; disallow a deduction of any charitable contribution made to or by such person; withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or otherwise deny any federal grant, contract, subcontract, cooperative agreement, loan, license, certification, accreditation, employment, or similar position or status from or to such person; or withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or otherwise deny any benefit under a federal benefit program. Requires the federal government to consider to be accredited, licensed, or certified for purposes of federal law any person who would be accredited, licensed, or certified for such purposes but for a determination that the person believes or acts in accordance with such a religious belief or moral conviction. Permits a person to assert an actual or threatened violation of this Act as a claim or defense in a judicial or administrative proceeding and to obtain compensatory damages or other appropriate relief against the federal government. Authorizes the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce this Act against the Government Accountability Office or an establishment in the executive branch, other than the U.S. Postal Service or the Postal Regulatory Commission, that is not an executive department, military department, or government corporation. Defines "person" as any person regardless of religious affiliation, including corporations and other entities regardless of for-profit or nonprofit status.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2015
Remote Transactions Parity Act of 2015 This bill authorizes both member states under the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement and states that have not adopted the Agreement (the multistate agreement for the administration and collection of sales and use taxes adopted on November 12, 2002) to require remote sellers (i.e., sellers who make remote sales in a state without a physical presence) to collect and remit sales and use taxes with respect to remote sales sourced to such states. States that have not adopted the Agreement must show that they have adopted and implemented minimum simplification requirements for the administration of sales and use taxes in order to collect such taxes. Such requirements include: (1) the designation of a single state entity responsible for all state and local sales and tax administration, return processing, and audits of remote sales; (2) a single audit of a remote seller for all taxing jurisdictions in the state; (3) direct contact with a certified software provider utilized by the remote seller in conducting an audit; (4) a single sales and use tax return for use by remote sellers that is filed with a single entity responsible for tax administration; (5) a uniform sales and use tax base; and (6) sourcing of all remote sales in compliance with criteria established by this Act. This bill expressly prohibits a state from requiring a remote seller to file sales and use tax returns any more frequently than is required for nonremote sellers. Additionally, remote sellers whose gross annual receipts are less than $5 million are exempt from audits unless there is a reasonable suspicion of intentional misrepresentation or fraud. For the first three years after the effective date of this Act, the requirement for remote sellers to collect and remit sales and use taxes is limited to remote sellers whose gross annual receipts exceed a certain level (i.e., $10 million in the first year, $5 million in the second year, and $1 million in the third year) and who utilize an electronic marketplace for making sales to the public. After the third year after the effective date of this Act, there is no exemption for remote sellers to collect and remit such taxes. The bill specifies limitations on the applicability of this Act, including by providing that nothing in this Act shall be construed as: (1) subjecting a remote seller to any type of tax other than sales and use taxes, or (2) enlarging or reducing the authority of a state to impose such taxes. The bill suspends the authority of a state to collect sales and use taxes in the first year after the effective date of this Act and between October 1 and December 31 of such first year. The bill also prohibits a state from exercising any authority under this Act unless it: (1) provides certification procedures for persons to be approved as certified software providers, (2) refrains from denying or revoking certification to a software provider without a reasonable basis, (3) has certified multiple national certified software providers and such certifications are in effect, and (4) provides compensation for certified software providers.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2015
Filipino Veterans of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2015 Directs the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to make appropriate arrangements for the award of a single Congressional Gold Medal to the Filipino Veterans of World War II in recognition of their dedicated service during World War II. Requires that the medal, following its award, be given to the Smithsonian Institution where it will be available for research and for display at other appropriate locations associated with such veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 2015
Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue gold, silver, half-dollar clad, and proof silver coins in recognition and celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first manned landing on the moon. Treasury may issue coins minted under this Act for only a one-year period, beginning January 1, 2019. All sales of coins minted under this Act shall include a surcharge of $35 per gold coin, $10 per silver coin, $5 per half-dollar clad coin, and $50 per proof silver coin. All of the surcharges received from the sale of such coins shall be paid as follows: one-half to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum's "Destination Moon" exhibit; one-quarter to the Astronauts Memorial Foundation; and one-quarter to the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, to aid its missions by providing college scholarships for the very best and brightest students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM).
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 2015
Lawful Purpose and Self Defense Act Amends the federal criminal code to modify the definition of "armor piercing ammunition" for purposes of federal firearms provisions to: (1) include a projectile that is designed and intended by the manufacturer or importer for use in a handgun (currently, a projectile that may be used in a handgun); (2) repeal the exclusion of a projectile that the Attorney General finds is primarily intended for sporting purposes; and (3) exclude a projectile that is primarily intended by the manufacturer or importer to be used in a rifle or shotgun and a handgun projectile that is designed and intended by the manufacturer or importer to be used for hunting, recreational, or competitive shooting. Repeals a prohibition on assembling from imported parts a semiautomatic rifle or shotgun that is identical to one prohibited from importation as not being suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes. Repeals the condition that in order for a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer to be permitted to ship to a member of the U.S. Armed Forces on active duty outside the United States or to clubs whose entire membership is composed of such members, and for such members or clubs to be permitted to receive, a firearm or ammunition intended for the lawful personal use of such members or club, the firearm or ammunition must be determined by the Attorney General to be generally recognized as particularly suitable for sporting purposes. Includes among the categories of firearms or ammunition that may be authorized for importation into the United States by the Attorney General, within 30 days after receiving an application therefor: (1) ammunition that is not armor piercing ammunition; (2) a firearm or ammunition that is being brought in for the use of a federal, state, or local government agency; and (3) a firearm or ammunition that is being imported for the purpose of exportation. Amends the National Firearms Act to modify the definition of "destructive device" to exclude: (1) a shotgun or shotgun shell which the Department of the Treasury finds is generally recognized as particularly suitable for lawful (currently, sporting) purposes; and (2) an antique or a rifle which the owner intends to use for (currently, solely for) sporting purposes. Authorizes the temporary interstate transfer of a firearm for lawful (currently, sporting) purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 2015
Public Land Renewable Energy Development Act of 2015 Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to extend through FY2020 the authorization for deposit and use of lease revenues under the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970. Makes such funds available to the Department of the Interior for FY2015 and afterwards to implement both the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970. Directs the Bureau of Land Management to establish priority and variance areas on covered land for geothermal, solar, and wind energy projects. Requires Interior to establish a program to improve federal permit coordination with respect to renewable energy projects carried out on public land administered by Interior and not excluded from the development of geothermal, solar, or wind energy (covered land). Defines "variance area" as covered land that is neither an exclusion area (not suitable for development of renewable energy projects) nor a priority area. Establishes in the Treasury the Renewable Energy Resource Conservation Fund, to be available in regions affected by the development of wind or solar energy on federal land for: (1) protecting and restoring important fish and wildlife habitat; and (2) ensuring and improving right-of-way access to federal land and water in the impacted region for fishing, hunting, and other forms of outdoor recreation. Requires the Department of Agriculture as well as Interior to determine the feasibility of carrying out a conservation banking program on federal land. Denies the rental fee exemption for rights-of-way under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act to wind or solar generation projects with a capacity of 20 megawatts or more that are issued a lease, right-of-way, permit, or other authorization.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 2015
Protecting Patients and Physicians Against Coding Act of 2015 The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in carrying out regulations providing for the replacement of ICD-9 (International Classification of Diseases-9) with ICD-10 as a standard code set, shall provide for a two-year grace period during which physicians and other health care providers submitting claims and other documents using ICD-10 are not penalized for errors, mistakes, and malfunctions relating to the transition to such code set. HHS shall also give these practitioners assistance during the grace period. The Government Accountability Office shall study this transition for Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 2015
Power Efficiency and Resiliency Act or the POWER Act Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow a 30% energy tax credit for combined heat and power system property and increase the capacity limitations for such property, (2) extend until December 31, 2018, the placed-in-service deadline for such property, and (3) allow a 30% energy tax credit for waste heat to power property (property comprising a system generating electricity through the recovery of a qualified waste heat resource) placed in service before January 1, 2019. Includes within the definition of "qualified waste heat resource": (1) exhaust heat or flared gas from any industrial process; (2) waste gas or industrial tail gas that would otherwise be flared, incinerated, or vented; and (3) a pressure drop in any gas for an industrial or commercial process. Excludes from such definition any heat resource from a process the primary purpose of which is the generation of electricity utilizing a fossil fuel or nuclear energy.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2015
Veterans' Entry to Apprenticeship Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to treat a pre-apprenticeship program as a program of apprenticeship, for purposes of providing educational assistance: (1) if such pre-apprenticeship program is recognized under or compliant with relevant state standards for a postsecondary pre-apprenticeship program, or (2) in the case of a program for which a state does not require any such standards, if the curriculum of the pre-apprenticeship program is approved by a sponsor who certifies that the program will prepare an individual with skills and competencies needed to enroll in a registered apprenticeship program and the pre-apprenticeship program maintains conduct and attendance policies in accordance with such sponsor. A covered individual enrolled in a pre-apprenticeship program must receive the same amount and kind of educational assistance the individual would receive if the individual were enrolled in a program of apprenticeship, with an exception of specified housing assistance if the individual is not paid as part of such pre-apprenticeship program.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2015
Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2015 This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to modify reporting requirements for institutions of higher education (IHEs) that participate in title IV federal financial aid programs. Currently, to retain title IV eligibility, IHEs must report data to the Department of Education (ED) through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). This bill requires IHEs to submit additional student enrollment data to ED to enable coding and reporting on students' level of academic preparation. It also requires ED to calculate additional outcome measures by institution and program, including: the percentage of students who receive federal, state, or institutional grants or loans; the average amount of federal loan debt upon graduation; the average amount of total federal loan debt of students who do not complete a program of study; student transfer rates; rates of continuation to higher levels of education; and the percentage of students who receive the degree they initially sought. ED must report additional outcome measures established by this Act, as well as all existing student data in IPEDS, based on these student types: receipt or non-receipt of federal Pell Grants, receipt or non-receipt of Stafford Loans, participation in the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Program, enrollment status, and enrollment intensity. ED must also, in cooperation with the Social Security Administration, make publicly available data on employment metrics and median annual earnings 2 years, 6 years, and 15 years after program completion. ED must report the data by: education program, credential received, institution, and state of employment.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2015
Global Anti-Poaching Act This bill addresses the illegal trade in endangered and threatened wildlife and their related parts and products. The Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other appropriate agencies are urged to: (1) support strengthening existing wildlife enforcement networks and establishing new networks in other appropriate regions, and (2) promote the professionalization of the wildlife law enforcement sector and professional ranger training in partner countries. The State Department: (1) must provide to Congress an annual list of each foreign country that is a major source, transit point, or consumer of wildlife trafficking products; and (2) may withhold certain assistance from countries that have failed to adhere to their obligations under international agreements relating to endangered or threatened species. The President may provide defense articles, services, and related training to security forces of African countries to counter wildlife trafficking and poaching. If a unit of a security force has been found to engage in wildlife trafficking or poaching, the President may not provide such assistance unless the President determines that the government of the country is taking steps to hold the security unit accountable and prevent trafficking and poaching. The bill amends the federal criminal code to make wildlife trafficking violations of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the African Elephant Conservation Act, and the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act of 1994 predicate offenses for racketeering and money laundering prosecutions, if such violations involve more than $10,000. Fines and forfeitures from such violations must be transferred to the Multinational Species Conservation Fund and used for the benefit of the species impacted by the violation.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 2015
Constitutional Amendment This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment requiring federal expenditures and receipts to be balanced, excluding expenditures for payment of debt and receipts derived from borrowing. The requirement may be met over more than one year to accommodate economic conditions. In emergency situations, two-thirds of the House of Representatives and the Senate may authorize expenditures to exceed receipts for a limited time. Debts from emergency expenditures must be paid as soon as practicable. Congress may enforce the article with legislation, which must require compliance within 10 years of ratification.
![Official portrait of Rep. Love, Mia B. [R-UT-4]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/115_rp_ut_4_love_mia_200.jpg)